(12 September 2005 1:50 pm)

MUMBAI: Nickelodeon director business and operations head Pradeep Hejmadi, who was re-designated as MTV Networks India research head only recently, has decided to call it a day at the company.

Hejmadi, who will be joining Tam Media Research's S-Group as head, put in his papers last week.

Tam India CEO L V Krishnan confirmed the development to Indiantelevision.com citing that Hejmadi will be joining the company next week.

He said, "S-Group has brought in some wonderful insights for the industry over after its inception three years back. Many of this division’s contributions have propelled Tam to newer heights, even internationally. For the future, I do see a new trajectory of growth in the field of Broadcast Management. I am very pleased to announce that Pradeep Hejmadi will be joining us to spearhead the S-Group division in the area of Broadcast Management. He brings huge amounts of value additions to the table as he has been associated with a wide variety of assignments in the domain of media planning and broadcast management. He has launched numerous pioneering research projects that has not only benefited the organizations he has worked for but has also given a new dimension of thought for the entire media industry.”

In the wake of this new appointment, the agency will be shortly announcing a new role for Tam India vice president Atul Phadnis, who currently heads S-Group, AdEx India and Eikona PR Track.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Hejmadi said that he had put in his papers at Nick last week and would be leaving the kids channels by the end of this week.

Hejmadi came on to MTV from Turner in June last year. In his four year stint at Turner he was research director and was responsible for CNN, CNN.com, Cartoon Network and Cartoonnetworkindia.com.

He began his career with Times FM in 1994 and moved to media planning and buying with the media buying unit of HTA. He then moved to Discovery Communications in 1997, before joining Turner.